New Purdue-led NSF center to focus on resilient cyber-physical systems
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University recently was host to the National Science Foundation’s launch of the CHORUS center, whose goal is to create resilient large-scale, safety-critical cyber-physical systems (CPS). Such systems include Connected and Autonomous Transportation Systems (CATS), which can feature driverless cars, smart traffic lights and road sensors, among other technologies. Other examples of CPS include smart power grids and health care and medical device networks.
Led by Saurabh Bagchi, professor of electrical and computer engineering, CHORUS was introduced at the Grand Challenges in Resilience Workshop at Purdue, Nov. 19-21. The event brought together principal investigators from four universities and leaders from Intel, GM and the Indiana Department of Transportation, as well as program officers from the NSF and the Department of Defense.
The inaugural CHORUS workshop emphasized resilience science and its application to CATS, a field known to have significant technological and policy challenges.
“Resilience is about enabling systems to ‘fight through’ unexpected challenges and continue functioning securely and safely,” Bagchi said. “The CHORUS Center will make leap-through advancements in both the science and the engineering of resilience in large-scale CPS.”
David Corman, program director of the NSF Cyber-Physical Systems Program, emphasized the importance of the new center’s work: “The CHORUS project is ambitious and timely. It addresses critical issues raised in the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology report on fortifying the nation’s cyber-physical systems.”
The workshop’s panels set a strategic road map for CPS resilience and discussed industry perspectives on trustworthy CPS with representatives from GM, Sandia National Laboratories, Saab Automobile and Intel. A panel focusing on CATS featured ideas on technological advancements and policy implications from academia and industry experts.
The workshop also featured a student poster session that showcased innovative research demonstrating students’ visions for future AI algorithms and machine learning that highlighted collaboration among academia, industry and government.
One of the poster session judges, Mark Tschopp, senior research scientist at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory, commended the students on the innovative science represented in their posters.
“I found the students — both undergraduate and graduate students — to have a deep understanding of the technical topics as well as the ability to present the ideas to a broad audience,” Tschopp said.
All the audio-video and presentation material from the workshop are available at the event website.
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Media contact: Amy Raley, araley@purdue.edu